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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I love this book. I was privileged to read it and endorse it before it came out. Welcome, Miralee. How did you and your spouse meet?

Allen moved to the small town where I lived when I was a junior in high school. He started during the last term of that year, and I remember the day he walked in for the first time. Blue jeans, cowboy boots, short, neat hair cut, and a killer smile. I thought “Wow, a cute cowboy”. He didn’t really notice me until our senior year when we were in the same study hall. The teacher was new and young, and had little control over the kids. I was the only girl in a class of twelve guys, LOL! Allen chose a desk near mine and we started getting acquainted, but I turned down his attempts at a date for three months before finally saying yes (he wasn’t a Christian, but agreed to start attending church with me and later did get saved). We quickly became an item and married a year and four months later, after I attended college for one year. (Disclaimer: I will say I don’t suggest doing things backwards as far as dating a non-Christian.)

I like the ratio of guys to girl. Do you have a speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.

It’s starting to develop and is something I’m hoping the Lord will grow as He sees fit. I’ve spoken a number of times at our church, both on Sunday morning and Wednesday night. My pastor encouraged me to get my ministerial credentials through our denomination, as he felt the Lord wants to use me in a speaking ministry as well as my writing. I did so, and have since been asked by a few women’s groups to speak at a variety of meetings, but I feel like I’m still getting my feet wet. I don’t see myself as a main speaker at a conference or women’s retreat yet, but hopefully someday that will come.

It will. What are some interesting things about you that others might not know?

There are several that I don’t typically mention in a bio that my readers might enjoy knowing.

1. My husband and I were foster parents to mostly teenage girls for a number of years, and I’d have loved to have had more than two children of our own, but as I have RH-Negative blood, that wasn’t possible.

2. We lived in Alaska for a year and while there I took a part time job driving a tourist bus. We also had the opportunity to land on a glacier in a plane equipped with skis.

3. Allen and I owned two cougars, not taken from the wild but several generations in captivity. We got the first one as a kitten and the second was a rescue from a neglectful home.

4. We owned a sawmill for fourteen years, and I worked doing everything other than running the big saw and planer. I ran the scoop mobile (similar to a forklift), did the off-bearing for the big circle saw as well as the planer, stoked the boiler (where I broke 2 fingers), ran boards through the edger, and other jobs.

5. My son, father-in-law, brother-in-law and husband are all (or have been) in the airplane industry. We owned and operated an aircraft maintenance business for four years. While there, I opened a small tack shop (horse stuff) that I ran on the side out of an empty room in the building.

6. My husband, young daughter and I were in a twin engine plane with my brother-in-law flying (over the Columbia River) when the wheels wouldn’t come down for landing. We thought we’d have to land in the water near the shore, but I started praying and interceding. We flew for quite a while, hoping they would work before we ran out of fuel. Praise God, they came down when we got low on fuel, and we were able to land safely.

7. I’ve never been musical and took private art/painting lessons in Jr. High and continued on oil painting as an adult. But the past few years I’ve had a desire to learn to play the drums. Maybe someday I’ll follow through and find someone to teach me. :-)

You have a very interesting life. People are always telling me that they’d like to write a book someday. I’m sure they do to you, too. What would you tell someone who came up to you and said that?

I’ve experienced the same thing. If it’s a rather flippant statement without much meaning behind it, I typically just smile and say they should give it a try. If I sense it’s a true desire and they move on to ask questions, I encourage them to dig deep and learn everything they can about the craft. Even if they aren’t ultimately published, if someone has a desire to write, they should follow that dream. Study books on the subject, join writer’s groups, attend conferences if they’re able to, and most of all, just write.

Tell us about the featured book?

Finding Jeena is the sequel to The Other Daughter, my debut novel that released two years ago with Kregel. It follows the materialistic, driven Jeena Gregory, Susanne’s friend in the first book. We won’t see the Carson family in this one, but the readers will discover what drove Jeena, and why she was crying when Susanne bumped into her on the courthouse steps near the end of the book. She’s going to encounter some hard bumps that will test everything she’s valued, and challenge her thinking and beliefs in more than one area of her life.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Jeena Gregory chewed on her lip as she stared at the red silk dress hanging in the closet. Would it be enough? She wiped her sweaty palms down the legs of her jeans, trying to vanquish the knot in her stomach. The same feeling she’d experienced as a ten-year-old hit her. She’d walked into her new school and tried to ignore the snickers as some of the students eyed her worn-out sneakers and hand-me-down clothes.

She refused to let fear or insecurity take control. Fear couldn’t hurt her—only men could do that. And Sean loved her.

No way would she believe the rumor she’d heard from Connie, the biggest gossip in her small group of friends. Sean couldn’t be seeing someone else. He was close to proposing; she’d sensed it more than once. Jeena shook her head, trying to dislodge the disquieting thoughts. He’d have a good explanation.

Her confidence level soared after applying makeup and slipping into the dress. It had cost her two days’ salary, but it was worth every cent. Hugging her in all the right places, the dark red silk accented her long black hair and green eyes. Working out at the club kept her figure where she wanted it.

Sean’s car flashed past Jeena’s window and halted in front of her small condo. Jeena ran a hand over her trim hips. She’d be thirty later this year, and her body still looked like that of a twenty-year-old—she’d maintain it if she had to work out every day.

The doorbell chimed, but this time Jeena didn’t rush to answer. Sean Matthews needn’t think her life revolved around his arrival, even if it did. Playing a little hard to get might work in her favor.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I can be found several places. My web site is www.miraleeferrell.com

My blog is http://www.miraleesdesk.blogspot.com/ and I have a Facebook page, as well as a reader’s group. Just do a search for Miralee Ferrell’s reader’s group and ask to join. I’d love to see you there!

Thank you, Miralee, for all the interesting tidbits about your life.Readers, here's a link to the book. By using this link when you order, you'll help support this blog.

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Hi Gals, Thanks so much for visiting and reading my interview. I'm thankful God has allowed me to experience such a variety of things in my life. Maybe someday I'll incorporate a few into a book or two. Actually, I do draw from some things...in Love Finds You in Bridal Veil, Oregon, you'll find a smattering of logging and sawmill life during 1902... Hubby and I owned and ran a sawmill, so it was easy for me to write.